Welcome to my journal where I'll keep you up to date on all the new Freestyle World Cup information! Here at emilycook.com is where you can find the most recent updates on events, camps and other exciting news on the aerial team. Hopefully you'll follow my teammates and me around the globe and to the podium this year!

Back to the grind

7/23/2010

Today is my first full day off in weeks and it’s hugely appreciated. Spring was a breath of fresh air after the intensity of the 2010 season, but as usual, it was fleeting and quickly the weekly grind started back up. There must be something I love about packing each day with activities, because I always seem to come back to it, I guess I find it comforting to be constantly on the move.

This summer is quite a change from the usual however. Five classes in a condensed semester at University of Utah has kept my “off” days filled with papers, exams and lectures, and my evenings spent with my head over school books, preparing for the next day of brain rather than body power.

For the first part of the summer my training has taken the form of bike rides, show jumping, rock climbing and lifting and I’m finding it surprisingly effective. My mind as far as jumping is concerned has slowed since February and my desire to get back to more traditional training is nagging. However, I kept my promise to my coaches to keep it light and kept myself out of the pool and on the deck, instead working with our younger crop of athletes in the FLY Freestyle aerials program. Coaching had has a remarkably powerful effect on my mentality, and I am loving working with the future Olympians of our sport. I find myself thinking deeply about the mechanics of a jump, talking about the jump and then when given the opportunity to perform it myself, I find that it’s easier and more successful. This is a similar effect to the three years I spend on the pool deck with broken feet, however this time I have the opportunity to get back out there whenever I feel the time is right. And fortunately, the time is just about here. Tomorrow I’ll move back into training with my team and preparing for the upcoming World Championships in Deer Valley and I couldn’t be more excited to get back.

Check out this article from the Salt Lake Tribune that highlights a few more details about this summer’s adventures.

Enjoy and as always thanks for reading.

Emily

PS. I've also been spending a bit of time on the river with dad... check out the photo! We've been having some fun. 
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